PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- About 400 African American and Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latina, Middle Eastern and Arab, and European American Lutheran women gathered to celebrate culture and pave a way for unity at "Way-Making Women: A Way to Unity" here July 8-10 at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel.
Women at the gathering created systems of support and shared common issues and concerns through Bible study, worship and community gatherings. "Way-Making Women" is a component of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Fifth Triennial Gathering here July 8-14 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
"Way-Making Women created an atmosphere for sharing and celebrating God's gift of culture, as well as making a bridge for the rest of the week," said Valora K. Starr Butler, a member of the gathering's planning team, Women of the ELCA, Chicago.
"The experience assisted all women in discovering their part in the call to healing relationships in the church, society and the world," she said. "This is not a program," Starr Butler said of the gathering, "it is an experience."
The gathering opened with worship led by the Rev. Margarita Martinez, bishop of the ELCA Caribbean Synod, Dorado, Puerto Rico. "We are way-making women because we belong to the community of Jesus Christ. We are way-making women because we allow the spirit to flow, to lead us, to confront, to risk, to proclaim life when death surrounds us," Martinez told participants.
The Rev. Cynthia Rembert James, Oakland, Calif., is a Christian psychologist who pastors two Church of God congregations. She is the first female bishop elected to the Board of Bishops for the Joint College of African American Bishops' Congress.
In three separate Bible study presentations, James focused on the role of midwives in the Holy Bible. In the book of Exodus, "Miriam was drafted into service. She was instrumental in the growth of the Kingdom of God. Miriam was called to rise above and become a way-making woman," she said.
"God not only has a plan for our deliverance and not only a plan for our moral conduct, but God has a plan for our praise. God has a plan for women to break out," James told participants. "The God that is in us, with us, is so much more than what the world will give us."
"The challenge to us, in a post-modern time, is to be the presence of a transcendent reality. We are to be the broken bread and the spilled wine. We are to be the community that draws others to Christ through participation in God's incarnate presence, i.e., the church, the body of Christ," she said.
"Dr. James has given me a special perspective on way-making women, women who nurture and persevere, show compassion and become leaders. She taught me that in the midst of nurturing others, we should stop and nurture ourselves. She has inspired me to return home, 'break out,' and become a more effective way-making woman among youth in this post-modern world," said participant Esther Q. Bolton, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Stone Mountain, Ga.
Following each Bible study, participants gathered in "community," an opportunity for participants to listen, share and learn from one another.
"We need time as sisters to gather around common gifts, seasons of life and the context in which we find ourselves. Community time calls us to move out of our comfort zones," said Starr Butler.
Music was provided by Kyros, a seven-member band whose songs "spanned all cultures."
Women of the ELCA's three-year theme, "Listen, God is Calling," is being unveiled at the convention amid Bible study, keynote addresses, workshops, business sessions and field trips. - - - Editors: Photographs from "Way-Making Women: A Way to Unity" and Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering are maintained at http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/photos.html on the Internet. News releases and other information about the gathering are maintained at http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/news.html on the Internet.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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